With plans set in place for what will be an entertaining and enjoyable evening at their annual awards banquet, the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) reminds everyone to RSVP with Ron Bernhagen at 612-363-5302 or ron@umsprints.com by January 10, 2011. The date for the annual UMSS awards banquet celebrating the 2010 season and honoring the top drivers is set for Saturday, January 22, 2011 at Running Aces Harness Park in Columbus, Minnesota just off Interstate 35. Activities will begin with a cocktail hour from 5:00-6:00PM. Dinner will be from 6:00-7:00PM. The awards ceremony will take place from 7:00-8:00PM. Entertainment will start at 8:30PM. A cash bar will be available. The cost of the banquet is $30 per adult, children 6-15 are $15, and under 6 are free. Tickets should be purchased ahead of time by contacting series CDO Ron Bernhagen. Driving directions and other information about Running Aces can be located on their website at www.runningacesharness.com or by calling them at 651-925-4600 or 1-877-RUN-ACES.

The Country Inn & Suites in Forest Lake, MN will be the official host hotel. Rooms have been set aside under the name UMSS-Ron Bernhagen. The rate for Saturday night for a room with two (2) queen beds is $84.15 while a suite goes for $97.75. Reservations can be made by calling 651-982-9799 and mentioning the above reservation name. The cut-off date for reserving a room under the UMSS banquet rate is January 7, 2011 at midnight. The UMSS is working on arranging a shuttle taxi between the hotel and Running Aces.

The UMSS will also be conducting a free sprint car chassis set-up seminar on Saturday, January 22, 2011 at Mastell Brothers Trailer Service located in Columbus, Minnesota inside their heated service shop. The seminar will be held from 12:00-3:00PM, giving drivers and crews plenty of time to get ready for the banquet later on. The UMSS is planning to have the chassis seminar for all three classes including a winged 360 sprint car, a non-winged sprint car, and a micro sprint. The seminar is open to all interested drivers and teams. The general order of events at the seminar will be an opening session for everyone covering general sprint car terminology, a routine maintenance program, and resources on where to obtain information. Breakout sessions for the various divisions will follow along with a question and answer session. For driving directions, please visit the Mastell Brothers Trailer Service website at www.mastellbrothers.com and click on map and directions. Further information on the chassis seminar is available from Mark Daniels at 612-839-8311, Ron Bernhagen at 612-363-5302 or Joe Kouba at 612-751-4646.

Please make plans to attend the awards banquet and let Ron Bernhagen know by January 10, as Running Aces needs to know how much food to prepare for the banquet buffet dinner. Thank you.

Looking forward to seeing many friends and having a fun time at the seminar and banquet. Ron should have a tentative schedule ready for release, I believe the tire brand will be announced for the UMSS 2011 season, and the winner of the "Name the Series" non-winged sprint car contest will be announced. If I remember correctly, there are three contestants who submitted entries for what will be the name of the series. We'll draw a winner from those who submitted the winning entries.